Suburban Fantasy FilmTag Archive

Pixar have announced the title for their next original feature releasing on March 6 2020 – Onward.

Up to this point, Onward (which has been described as a ‘modern fantasy’ film), directed by Dan Scanlon (Monsters University) and produced by Kori Rae, has been under the working title “The Untitled Pixar Film That Takes You To A Suburban Fantasy World“. It was first announced at the 2017 D23, and takes place in a world where fantasy has almost become mundane. Chris Pratt and Tom Holland will play the teenage elf brothers who set out on a journey together in the hopes of rekindling magic and spending one last day with their late father.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer have also been revealed as cast members. This isn’t Louis-Dreyfus’ first time lending her voice to a Pixar character – she voiced Princess Atta in A Bug’s Life way back in 1998!

The film is inspired by Scanlon’s own life and relationship with his brother – Scanlon’s father passed away when he was only a year old. Now that the title has officially been revealed, we can all look forward to more plot and character details being released.

Following the official release of the title, Pixar employees on Twitter have been expressing their excitement about working on the film. Pixar animator Austin Madison compared Onward to a Tolkien story, suggesting that this is a kind of fantasy that the studio has never explored before.

Tolkien stories tend to have epic journeys, incredible amounts of lore, strong bonds between characters, and a lot of heart. We never knew that Pixar tackling a Tolkienesque fantasy feature was a thing that we needed, but this news has made the wait for Onward (or at least some more news on it) all the more excruciating.

Amidst all the excitement for the Academy Awards, you may have missed the news about Pixar’s schedule for their future movie releases. On March 1st, Disney announced the release dates for over 40 movies, including 7 new Pixar movies. Some we already know about, and some remain complete mysteries.

These next 7 Pixar movies will be released over the course of 4 years, 2018-2022. Have a look at the announced release dates below:

Now, we already know about Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4 of course, but there’s very little information on the Pixar movies beyond 2019. It’s amazing to think that in exactly two years on this very day (March 6 2020), Pixar are planning to release a movie that we might know nothingabout.

At last year’s D23, we did learn about a brand new, original Pixar movie directed by Monsters University‘s Dan Scanlon – “The Untitled Pixar Film That Takes You To A Suburban Fantasy World“. This film will take place in a world where unicorns and dragons are the norm – Scanlon describes it as “a mixture of the fantastic and everyday”. As this is the only Untitled Pixar Film that we have even a fraction of information on, it feels safe to assume that this intriguing film will occupy one of the 2020 spots.

The Untitled Pixar Film That Takes You to a Suburban Fantasy World was first announced at the 2017 D23

Both Pete Docter (Monsters Inc, Up, InsideOut) and Brian Fee (Cars 3) have been reported to be working on original films, but beyond that, this new movie schedule is full of mystery and our minds are already racing. Pixar are clearly feeling confidently ambitious by planning on releasing two movies in both 2020 and 2022. It’s also interesting to note that no Pixar movie has ever been released in March before, and now two March movies are on the table. Perhaps this is a sign of a change in marketing strategies, or just a byproduct of the release schedules for competing movies throughout the year. Should we expect to see more sequels on the horizon? If so, which films would be most likely to gain an addition to their franchise? And if Pete Docter and Brian Fee are indeed working on new, original films, what amazing worlds are they going to transport us to?